Early John Hughes: National Lampoons, Mr Mom, Nate And Hayes

Carley Tauchert

Carley's look back at the work of the mighty John Hughes takes in some of his earlier films: Mr Mom, anyone?

Published on Jun 18, 2009

So far in my quest to re-visit the genius of John Hughes I have stuck firmly with the movies people remember him by, but before there was Sixteen Candles there were a few movies that Hughes wrote, two which were box office hits and two which you may never have heard of.

National Lampoon's Class Reunion

The first of the flops (so to speak) was 1982's National Lampoon's Class Reunion. Poking fun at the teen slasher movies that were out at the time, Class Reunion is set in Lizzie Borden High School (if you are not aware of Lizzie Borden, Google the name, you'll see the irony) and sees the class of 1972 coming together at their 10 year reunion. The fun is cut short, however, when they realise a homicidal maniac is out to get them.

The reason for this murderous rampage? A senior year high school prank which saw the killer, Walter Baylor, convinced by his classmates to get to second base with a girl who has a paper bag over her head. The girl it turns out is his twin sister. Driven insane by this prank, Walter is committed to a mental asylum but escapes on the big night to exact his revenge.

Hiding right under the radar and really where it should stay, Class Reunion is not the greatest of the National Lampoon series; the only really enjoyable moment is Anne Ramsey's (AKA Mama Fratelli from The Goonies) lunch lady Mrs. Tabazooski, who serves up meatloaf with a saw and constantly has a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

Mr Mom

Next came a major box office hit for Hughes, which I'll admit is a guilty pleasure for me, Mr. Mom. Starring Michael Keaton it is set in Detroit and tells the story of a family who decide to change from the usual set up of mum staying at home looking after the kids while dad is the major breadwinner.

After Jack Butler (Keaton) is made redundant, he makes a bet with his wife Carolyn (Teri Garr) that he can find a job before she can. However, as the title may give away, this doesn't happen and Carolyn starts working at the ad agency and Jack is left at home with the kids. Comedy ensures as Jack tries to get the kids under control, while also taking part in local wife activities, while Carolyn finds that going back to work isn't as easy as she first thought it would be.

Life is made even more complicated with both Jack and Carolyn having advances made to them by a mutual friend and boss, respectively. In the end though, they are reunited as a better and stronger family.

National Lampoon's Vacation

Following Mr. Mom came another box office success, National Lampoon's Vacation. Based on a story that Hughes wrote for National Lampoon magazine about an account of his own family's ill-fated trip to Disney World when he was young, Vacation is about a family road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles to visit the fictional Wally World. Starring Chevy Chase as head of the family, Clark Griswold, Beverly D'Angelo as his put upon wife Ellen and two kids, Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and Audrey (Dana Barron), the family pick up their awful rental car (hired out by the fabulous Eugene Levy) and head out onto the open road.

As with Planes, Trains And Automobiles, anything that can go wrong on the trip does, including a dead aunt, a smelly dog, being ripped off and stealing cash for a cheque at a hotel.

Finally making it to Wally World, they find it is shut to prepare for the summer rush, Clark refuses to leave until he gets inside and takes a security guard (the irreplaceable John Candy) captive. Then he takes his family in to have fun. A few rides later the SWAT team arrive, but they are saved by Roy Wally who finds their story close to his own.

Regarded as the best National Lampoon movie, Vacation was the last National Lampoon movie Hughes wrote until 1989's Christmas Vacation, which, in turn, was his last.

Chevy Chase is at the top of his game in this and the comedy moments are classic. For some bizarre reason I always recall seeing European Vacation shown on TV more, but this is by far the better film and Hughes' comedy touch is all over it.

Nate And Hayes

Finally, we reach Hughes' final picture before his slew of hits from Sixteen Candles onwards, the very little known Nate And Hayes.

Set in the South Pacific in the 19th century, it tells the story of missionary Nathaniel Williamsen (Michael O'Keefe) who is on his way to an island mission. On his journey, with his fiancée Sophie (Jenny Seagrove), his boat is captured by Bully Hayes (Tommy Lee Jones) who also falls for the charms of Sophie. After she is kidnapped by a slave trader, Nate and Hayes team up to find her.

There is a reason you probably have never heard of this movie; it is pretty terrible. Saying that, however, it does have a bit of a cult following and you can still pick it up on DVD (should you have an urge to see Tommy Lee Jones as a pirate).

So that's us all caught up until 1988, the year in which John Hughes starts his path into proper adulthood with She's Having A Baby.